4.3 Mineral Resources

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Vocabulary

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Gemstone: hard, colorful mineral that has a brilliant or glassy luster
Ore: rock that contains a metal or economically useful mineral
Smelting: process where an ore is melted to separate the useful metal from other elements the ore contains
Alloy: solid mixture of two or more metals

Outline

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• The uses of minerals
  • source of:
    • metals
    • gemstones
    • many more materials
  • gemstones
    • rubies
    • sapphires
    • valued for color, luster, durability, and because they're rare
    • after cut and polished, called gem
    • used for jewelry and decoration
  • metals
    • source of aluminum, iron, copper, or silver
  • other useful minerals
    • talc
    • fluorite
    • calcite
    • quartz
    • kaolin
    • gypsum
    • corundum
• ores
  • rock that contains metal or economically useful mineral
  • a lot of world's copper comes from ores containing chalcopyrite
• prospecting
  • people who prospect for ore deposits are called prospectors
• mining
  • strip mines
    • earthmoving equipment scrape away soil to expose ore
  • open pit mines
    • giant earthmoving equipment dig a huge pit
    • miners dig open pit mine to remove ore deposits that may start near the surface
  • shaft mines
    • network of tunnels that extend deep into ground
      • follows veins of ore
  • mining damages environment
    • mine operators grade surface and replace soil after they strip mine
• smelting
  • smelting is necessary to remove the metal from ore
  • ore is melted to separate metal from other elements the ore contains

Diagram

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